Educational Packet to give to New Members of Congress

Greetings for the new year! We at LAWG are excited about the prospects of what the new Congress could mean for U.S. policy in Colombia. We have included a brief analysis of the political scene and the changes we can expect to see this year. Working together, we know that we can create change, and the first step is to target the new representatives and senators. We need your help to educate new members of Congress about Colombia, and make sure that they're sensitive to the many human rights, labor and drug policy concerns that we have! Below we ask you to meet with your representatives and senators if they are new to Congress. Click here to read more about new member meetings.

Plan Colombia & the New Congress

We can expect some real, if limited, improvements in U.S. policy towards Colombia from the 110th Congress. The most promising indication of change lies in the new leadership positions of some of our key congressional allies.

Many of the chairs of committees with jurisdiction over foreign affairs have a record of commitment to human rights, concerns about training abusive foreign militaries, and an interest in fair trade and in alleviating poverty in developing countries. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for example, is unquestionably committed to these issues. The new chair of the House Appropriations Committee is Rep. David Obey, who has been a leader in efforts to reduce military aid to Colombia. Rep. Nita Lowey is now the chair of the House foreign operations subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for drafting Colombia's aid package each year. The House member most personally committed to human rights causes in Latin America, Rep. Jim McGovern, has an important position within the Rules Committee, which sets the guidelines for debate. On the Senate side, the most significant change is that Senator Patrick Leahy, a champion for human rights, becomes chair of the foreign operations subcommittee.

Because Plan Colombia was initiated by the Clinton Administration, there will still be bipartisan commitment within Congress to continuing support for the Colombian government. However, the leadership of relevant committees are precisely those members who have had the most concerns about the human rights record of the Colombian military and the most skepticism about whether this is an effective counterdrug policy. This constellation of leadership, as well as growing scandals in Colombia and U.S. preoccupation with Iraq, may mean that we have already reached high-water mark of U.S. involvement in Colombia's civil war. The 2008 budget, decided this year, may begin a gradual scaling down.

The possibilities for a change in U.S.-Colombia policy are many. Working with you, we know that we can accomplish a significant amount this year. Together we can:

• Reduce military aid to Colombia, and increase humanitarian assistance.
  We should be able to change the balance of aid by decreasing military aid and increasing aid for internally displaced persons, victims of violence, human rights and justice and sustainable development. Since Plan Colombia began in 2000, the U.S. has given the Colombian government over $5.4 billion in aid, of which more than 80 percent has gone directly to Colombia's military and police.
  
• Ensure stronger enforcement of the human rights conditions on U.S. military assistance.
  We are in a strong position to make this happen given that even in 2006, the State Department was never able to certify that Colombia met the human rights standards laid out in law. To date, none of the tied military aid from 2006 has been released. Certification hinges on increased concerns about the behavior of the military, such as numerous cases in which the army was alleged to have killed civilians, dressed them in guerrilla clothing and counted them as enemy dead.
  
• Phase out fumigation.
  Despite a dismal record of failure in limiting drug availability on U.S. streets, international counternarcotics policy is extraordinarily impervious to criticism, so changes in overall counternarcotics policy to Colombia and the Andean region will likely be gradual. We will need to strongly advocate for an end to the aerial spraying program and an increase in alternative development programs shaped by and implemented with local community participation.
  
• Educate and involve new members of Congress - with your help!
  LAWG and its coalition partners will meet with all the Washington offices of the new members of Congress by the end of February, and we need constituents to help do the same. Members of Congress care what you have to say, so LAWG is helping to organize constituent meetings around the country. See below to participate!
  
• Garner wide support for at least two congressional letters in defense of human rights and social justice in Colombia.
  Our collective actions - targeting Congress, the State Department and the Colombian government directly - will assist in protecting labor union representatives, religious leaders, journalists, Afro-Colombian and indigenous community leaders and human rights NGOs in Colombia.
  
• Help stop the proposed Colombian free trade agreement (FTA).
  The FTA that Presidents Bush and Uribe signed in November does not protect labor rights or small farmers. Because of these and other concerns, there is a good chance that the FTA may be blocked by Congress.

This year, we are working with a pro-active strategy to change Plan Colombia. We should see a re-shaping of the policy before it leaves the foreign operations subcommittee, rather than being forced to wait for an amendment, as in previous years. Therefore, if your member is on the foreign operations subcommittee (http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_sfo.shtml), you can play an important role in demanding an improved policy. And if your representative or senator is new in Congress, now is the time to educate him or her on your concerns about Colombia.

MEET WITH YOUR NEW MEMBER OF CONGRESS!

This is the ideal moment to meet with your new member of Congress. Newly elected senators and representatives have yet to deal with Plan Colombia, and are likely still forming their opinions on the issue. Now is the time for us to weigh in. We must let new members of Congress know that peace and respect for human rights in Colombia are important to us, and demand that our government end support for Colombia's war. If you are in the congressional district of a new member of Congress (list of new members by state available at: http://www.lawg.org/docs/newmembers.pdf), it is more important now than ever that you contact your member(s) of Congress.

LAWG is trying to ensure that constituents from each of the 65 new member districts (55 representatives and 10 senators) meet with their member of Congress, and we need your help! We are looking for individuals or small groups of who are willing to set up a brief meeting with their new member of Congress or his/her staff to talk about Colombia. Please contact us right away if you are willing to either organize or participate in a meeting with a new member of Congress, by emailing Jennifer or calling at 202-546-7010. We can help connect you to other people in your area that would like to voice their concerns about Colombia.

The meeting can take place in the representative or senator's local office, so you shouldn't have to go far from home. You can contact the district office to schedule a time; contact information is available through www.house.gov , where you can type in your zip code to go to the web page of your representative, or www.senate.gov to contact your senator. Members of Congress will be in their districts during the President's Day congressional recess, February 19-23. That is a great time to schedule your meeting!

You can do the meeting alone or with a group of constituents. The ideal group meeting would include a few of the following constituents from the member's district, all of whom have some knowledge of Colombia:

• A peace/human rights activist;
• Someone who has recently returned from a trip to Colombia;
• A religious leader or someone involved in a sister church program with Colombia;
• A union member;
• A Colombian living in the United States who can speak about the humanitarian crisis or human rights concerns;
• Anyone else knowledgeable about Colombia that may be able to approach the member of Congress from a different angle (for example if the member is concerned about drug usage in the district it is a good opportunity to bring up drug policy in Colombia).

Educational tools for your meeting: LAWG has prepared an educational packet on U.S. involvement in Colombia for you to give to your new member of Congress. The comprehensive packet covers a variety of issues related to Plan Colombia, including human rights concerns, fumigations, free trade, labor rights, drug policy, an ecumenical statement, and more. You can see the packet and easily print it out here: http://www.lawg.org/countries/colombia/newmemberpacket07.htm. Also, if you have any questions - big or small - about how to set up and execute a meeting, please don't hesitate to ask us! You can call us at 202-546-7010.

So please let us know if you are willing to participate in or organize a meeting with a new member of Congress: email Jennifer.

If your member of Congress is not new, or if you don't have time to schedule a meeting, the next best thing is a to write a letter. You can adapt the sample letter from LAWG's new member packet (http://www.lawg.org/countries/colombia/newmemberpacket07.htm). The most important thing is to express to your representative or senator that this is an important issue to you and state why. Feel free to download any of the other educational pieces from the new members packet to send along with your letter. Again, if you do take this action, please let us know! Just send a quick email to Jennifer saying who you've contacted and if you've received a response.

Thanks for your patience with this longer-than-normal alert. We're looking forward to a new and hopeful year with regards to U.S. policy in Colombia, and we hope that you'll be part of our efforts to change the policy!